Improvement in machines for grooving sewing-machine needles



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y s'. c. Kl-NGMAN. Machines fuir rouving Sewing-Machine Needles.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL C. KINGMAN, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

IMPRQVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR GROOVING SEWING-MACHINE'NEEDLES.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 158,947, dated January19, 1875 application filed December 26, 1874.

To all vhom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, SAMUEL C. KINGMAN, of Bridgeport, in the county ofFairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and ImprovedMachine for Groovin g the Blades of Sewing-Machine Needles; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the construction and operation of the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings making a part of this specification.

In grooving the blades of sewing-machine needles the usual custom hasbeen to use one milling cutter upon an arbor, and operate upon oneneedle only at the same time, thus making it a very slow and expensiveprocess to groove the large quantities of needles now indemand; and theobject of my invention is to more rapidly cut the grooves in a givenquantity of needles; and my present improvement consists in applyingcertain devices for securing and controlling two or more needles in sucha manner that all. of them may be operated upon at the same time, withas much accuracy and rapidityV as has heretofore been accomplished uponone needle only by the process above mentioned.

I will now proceed to describe the construction and opera-tion of Amyimproved machine, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Figure 1 is a front-end elevation of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is aplan of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the milling-cuttersand arbor for the same, and ofthe devices f or securing the series ofneedles in their several positions on the die-seat, with small portionsofthe slide and bed of the machine.

Fig. 4. is a longitudinal section of the machine View of the clamp inwhich the shanks of the several needles are placed previous to securingthe blades of the same in their respective positions on the sliding bedof the machine.

A ot' the accompanying drawings is the bed ot' the machine. B is theslide. C is an adjustable bed fitted to slide crosswise the slide B. Dis the die-seat, on which yare made a series of grooves for the bladesof the needles. lE is the clamp in which are placed the shanlcs of theneedles previous to placing the blades of the same in their respectivegrooves on the die-seat D. F is the milling-cutter arbor. G is theswinging beam, to which are attached the bearings for the milling-cutterarbor F. H H' are uprights secured to the sides of the bed A. I is thefeed-screw for operatingthe slide B and parts connected therewith. J isa bearing secured to the rear end of the bed A for receiving themechanism for driving the feedscrew I. K is the pulley for driving themechanism which operates the feed-screw I. L is the pulley for drivingthe milling-cutter arbor- F. M is the lever for receiving the frontbearing ot the feed-screw I. N is an adjustable slide tted to the rearend of the swinging beam GL O is the former for controlling thepositions of the swinging beam and milling- `cutters while the latterare in the act of grooving the needles. I? is an adjustable platesecured to the rear end of the slide B, and to which is secured theformer O.

Q is the feed-nut attached to the slide B,.

and in which works the feedscrew I. Ris an upright bar secured to thebed A. S is a pulley, which plays freely on a stud in the upper end ofthe upright bar It. T is a lever attached to the bed A, and is designedto operate the slideB when the feed-screw I is detached from the feednutQ. U isa connecting-bar, attached at one end to the slide B, and at theother end to the lever T. V is a cord attached to one end of theswinging beam G, and runs over the pulley S. W is a pail for receivingscraps of iron or other material, and is designed to act as a weight,and to which one end of the cord V is attached. X is a lever, secured tothe adjustable bed C. Y is a connecting-bar attached to the lever X, andis fitted to slidein a groove under the die-seat D. Z is a cross-barattached at the center to the connecting-bar Y. c a are a series oftaperin g keys, (in the present case fifteen in number,) secured at oneend to the cross-bar Z, and are designed to secure the severalneedleblades in their respective grooves on the dieseat D. bis thespindle to which is fitted-theshank of the milling-cutter arbor F. c isa bearin g for the opposite center ofthe cutterarbor F. d is anadjustable stop secured to the side of the slide B. e is a shipper-rodunder the bed A, the end of which passes through the front end of thesame to act as a support for the lever M. f is a stop-pin, which passesthrough a slot in the bed A, and is secured to the shipper-rod e. g gare short bars, secured to the sides of the slide B.v h h are screwspassing through the bars g g, and are designed to adjust the die-seat Dand posts connected therewith to a proper position with respect to themilling-cutters. i t' is a series of millingcutters, (in the presentcase fifteen in number,) fitted Ato the cutter-arbor. jj are washers,(fifteen in number,) itted to the cutter-arbor F, and are designed tofill the spaces between the cutters t' i. 7c is a nut on the end of thecutter-arbor F, and is designed to secure the milling-cutters i i andwashersjj rigidly to the cutter-arbor F. l l are screws passing throughthe uprights H H', the points of the same entering the swinging beam Gto act as centers. m is a worm-wheel, secured to the end of the feedscrew I. o1, is an endless screw, which works into the teeth of theworm-wheel m. o is a bearing for the feed-screw I, and is held inposition by means of two screws, p p', the points of which enter thesides of the bearing o to support the same, and at the same time allowsaid bearing and feed-screw to oscillate sufficiently to disconnect thelatter' from the feed-nut Q, when desired. q is a screw for adjustin gthe position of the slide N with respect to the beam G. r is a roll,fitted to play freely on a pin at the lower end of the slide N, and isdesigned to follow the uneven surface of the former O.

I will now proceed to describe the practical operation of my improvedmachine with reference to the accompanying drawings.

It is to be understood that two of the clamps E are to be made toaccompany the machine, with jaws of sufficient width to receive thenumber of needles for which the grooves on Vthe die-seat are designed toaccommodate- Afifteen, more or less. After filling the clamp VE with theshanks of said number of needles,

and securing the same rigidly between the jaws of the clamp by means ofthe thumbscrew s, or its equivalent,- the clamp, with the needles in thesame, is then placed on the top of the die-seat, with the needlesresting in their respective grooves. The rear edge of the clamp is nowbrought against the stop t on the front edge of the die-seat D, in themanner shown in the plan of the machine, Fig. 2, and perspectivedrawing, Fig. When in this position the series of tapering keys a a,which are fitted to slide in the grooves by the sides of theneedle-blades, are now brought against the blades of the needles bypulling the lever X, which is connected to lsaid keys by means of theconnecting-bar Y and cross-bar Z, which operation rigidly secures allthe needle-blades -inntheir respective grooves by wedgin g them betweenVthe tapering keys and vertical walls ofthe grooves on the die-seat D, asthe opposite walls of the grooves, in which the needles and keys areplaced, are made at an angle to correspond with the tapering edges ofthe latter, so that the act of pulling the lever X and keys a a forwardnecessarily forces the latter against the blades ofthe needles andlimits their motion, thus binding the needles very securely in theirrespective places. Having thus secured the blades of the needles in themanner described, they are now ready to be grooved by the series ofmilling-cutters z' z', which correspond in number to the needles. Saidcutters are` understood to revolve in the direction indicated by thearrow drawn upon the drivingpulley L, and the operation of grooving tocommence near the point of the blade, and finish at the shank for thelong groove, which is made on one side of the blade.

By referring to the enlarged drawing of the needle, Fig. 6, it will benoticed that the long groove between the shank and the point u, justabove the eye o, is made deeper than the remaining portion of thegroove. This forln of groove-is generally adopted in order to giveperfect freedom for the thread to pass between the cloth or othermaterial and the bottom of the groove while the shuttle is taking up theslack thread, and at the same time the centerstock ofthe needle, betweenthe long and short grooves, (which is below the work at the time abovementioned,) is thick enough at the eyeto prevent the cutting of thethread by the end walls ofthe eye.

In order to cut the form of groove above described, I adopt a former, 0,which governs and controls the position of all the millingcutters whilethe latter are groovi n g the blades of the needles, the working-face ofsaid former being shaped according to the desired form of the bottom ofthe grooves in the needles, the position of the milling-cutters beingmade to conform to the uneven surface of the former by means of theweight W, which, being attached to the cord V, which passes over thepulley S, causes the roll r, together with the swinging beam andmilling-cutters, to which the roll r is connected, to conform to theuneven surface of the former O while the latter is in motion with theslide B, to Whichit is attached. The needle-blades being now secured intheir respective grooves on the dieseat D, andthe milling-cutters ifrevolving in the direction indicated by the arrow drawn upon thedriving-pulley L and the slide B, and parts connected therewith, inabout the position, with respect to the milling-cutters, as shown in thedrawings, and the feed-screw I revolving in the direction indicated bythe arrow drawn upon the same in Fig. 4, the slide B,

being connected to the feed-screw I by the feed-nut Q, will be movedunder the milling-- cutters, and carry the several' needle-blades in theplane of the cutters, thel teeth of the latter being in the meantimeforced into the needle-blades as deep as the surface of the former 0will allow, the needles continuing to move under the milling-cutters.automatically until the adjustable stop d on the right side of the slideB strikes the stop-pin f, which, being attached to the shipper-rod e,causes the end of thelatter to move from under thelever M, and `allowsthe lat-ter, together with the feed-screw I, to'drop sufficiently todisconnect the feedscrew I from the feed-nut Q, when the forward motionof the needles is discontinued, and the operation of grooving the sameceases, the adj ustable stop d having previously been adjusted in such aposition as to cause the forward motion of the slide B to cease when theshanks of the needles reach the milling-cutters. rllhe long groove ofthe needles being now finished, the operator brings the needles andslide back to their original position by means of the lever T, afterwhich the needles are released from their confined positions in thegrooves on the die-seatD by means ofthe lever X, which operates theseries of keys a c simultaneously. The needles, together with the clampE, in which the shanks are secured, are now removed from the machine,and another clamp, similar to E, which has previously been lilled withthe shanks of another set of needles, in the manner before described, isplaced in position on the die-seat I), and the needle blades secured intheir respective grooves on the die-seat, in the same manner as for thepreceding set of needle-blades, after which the lever lVI is raised toits original position, which allows the end of the shipperrod e to, passunder and support the same, and causes the feed-screw I to again connectwith Vthe feed-nut Q, when the slide B and series of needles are againmoved forward nnder the cutters and the grooving operation repeated, asbefore described.

The above description of former and motion of the slide is to beunderstood as applicable to grooving the long-groove side of theneedle-blade only. The 'needles'which have just been removed from themachine are to remain in the clamp E and passed to another machine ofthe same general construction, but has a former attached whichcorresponds in shapeto lthe bottom of the short groove to be made on theopposite side of the needle-blades, the needlesV Abeing secured in theirrespective places in the same manner as for grooving the long groove onthe opposite side of the blade, the motion of the slide being adjustedto suit the length of the short groove. The clamp E has semicirculargrooves made on the face of each jaw, corresponding in size to theshanks of the needles, and at such a distance from each other as tocoincide with the grooves' made for the needle-blades on the die-seat D.

Thus I groove a series of needles with as much accuracy and with nearlyas much rapidity as has heretofore been accomplished upon one needleonly by the various methods and devices heretofore adopted.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patentl.V The combination of the die-seat D, series of two ormore tapering keys, a a, cross-bar Z, connecting-bar Y, lever X,adjustable bed C, and slide B with the series of two or moremilling-cutters, t' t', revolving upon one arbor, constructedsubstantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination of the series of two or more milling-cutters, 't' t',cutter-arbor F, swinging beam Gr, adjustable slide N, roll 1', andformer 0 with the slide B, constructed substantially as and' for thepupose speciiied.

3. The combination of the clamp E, die-seat D,series of twoor more keys,c a, cross-bar Z, connecting-bar Y, lever X, adjust-able bed C, slide B,`feed-nut Q, feed-screw I, cutter-arbor F, spindle b, center bearing c,swinging beam G, adjustable slide N, roll 1', and former O, constructedsubstantially as and for the purpose specified.

SAML. O. KINGMAN. Witnesses:

RosEwnLL THOMPSON, ORLANDO?. KINGMAN.

